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Description

We live in a politically and economically interconnected world. The fates of distant individuals are ever more closely tied through processes of globalization. Nonetheless, a common perception is that fellow citizens have obligations to each other that they do not have toward distant strangers in foreign countries. It is mostly within domestic contexts that concerns about appropriate redistribution, equality of opportunity, and social services are articulated and made into political programs. But what does justice require that the rich do for the global poor? What steps do governments of wealthy countries have to take toward the creation of a just world? We start by exploring different appro…

We live in a politically and economically interconnected world.
The fates of distant individuals are ever more closely tied through
processes of globalization. Nonetheless, a common perception is
that fellow citizens have obligations to each other that they do
not have toward distant strangers in foreign countries. It is
mostly within domestic contexts that concerns about appropriate
redistribution, equality of opportunity, and social services are
articulated and made into political programs. But what does justice
require that the rich do for the global poor? What steps do
governments of wealthy countries have to take toward the creation
of a just world? We start by exploring different approaches to the
question of whether obligations of justice apply only to those who
share a country. Different answers to this question prompt
dramatically different views of what the just world would look
like. We then assess whether the global economic and political
order actually harms the global poor. Do the global poor require
assistance offered in a spirit of beneficence, or do they require
rectification of past or ongoing injustice? Next, we take a look at
human rights and ask whether liberal values should be promoted as
universal human rights. We complete the course by exploring moral
obligations arising from trade (specifically the question of
whether global labor standards should be linked with human rights
standards), immigration, and global environmental justice. We
provide guidance in writing philosophical papers. The recorded
lectures are from the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences course
Ethical Reasoning 30. (4 credits)